Gloucester Late Night Levy

29 March 2017 – Gloucester City Council decision on Late Night Levy delayed

On 23 March the Council was due to decide whether to introduce the Gloucester Late Night Levy. However, the meeting to confirm this has now been pushed back to allow the Council to run a consultation throughout June to invite comments on introducing a possible Business Improvement District.

The Council have said that the Levy is still an option for the City’s Licensed premises and that that could also run alongside the BID.

The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers and the British Beer and Pub Association have urged the City Council to follow neighbouring Cheltenham’s example and adopt a BID instead of a Late Night Levy. The introduction of a BID would mean that all businesses in a defined area have to pay the charge which differs from the Gloucester Late Night Levy which is only paid by late night opening businesses. It is said that a BID is a good example of effective partnership working which will engage local businesses to help improve the local economy and it has been suggested that the Levy is a more punitive tax on already hard-pressed local businesses.

21 September 2016 – Gloucester Late Night Levy considered

Gloucester City Council is to begin a consultation on whether to introduce a late night levy in their City. The Council acknowledged that an active night time economy brings additional costs for the Authority, the Police and other agencies which deal with issues such as crime and disorder, anti-social behaviour and hospital admissions.

Whilst the Council already has many initiatives to tackle these issues including CCTV, Taxi Marshals and Street Pastors it considered these so resource intensive that the introduction of a levy would allow relevant businesses to financially contribute towards them and also towards other new schemes to make Gloucester continue to be a safe destination.

The consultation relates to a levy for alcohol Licensed premises operating between midnight and 06:00 and it was identified that there are currently 185 premises that would be affected. Consultation commenced on the 15 September and will run until 7 December.

There is a proposal to apply a thirty percent reduction for premises that participate in both City Safe and those that have obtained Best Bar None accreditation.

It is interesting that Gloucester City Council is looking to introduce a late night levy when nearby Cheltenham Council are consulting on whether the Late Night Levy should cease to have an effect, preferring to support the Council’s adopted business improvement district.

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